Nyanlända elevers litteracitetspraktiker i skolan

During the last decade, the number of recently arrived immigrant pupils has increased in Swedish schools. This has entailed great challenges for the educational system, not least concerning how these pupils can acquire written language skills in a second language. Against this backdrop, we have investigated the literacy practices of two recently arrived pupils. The two pupils, seven and eight years old, speak Dari as their first language, have no previous school experience and are now learning to read and write in Swedish. The pupils were observed during ten weeks in a mainstream Swedish-speaking educational context. Luke and Freebody’s (1990) four resources’ model was used in order to identify different literacy practices. The model emphasises four different practices that are all necessary, but not in themselves sufficient for a person to develop into a skilled reader: decoding words; understanding of semantic content; pragmatic use and a critical approach to texts. The article describes the challenges of literacy acquisition for the two children in relation to all four practices, but also pinpoints potential resources that can be used to support the pupils’ learning in relation to these difficulties. Finally, pedagogical implications for the teaching of recently arrived pupils of primary school age are discussed in relation to the results.

The Changing Role of Phonology in Reading Development

Processing of both a word’s orthography (its printed form) and phonology (its associated speech sounds) are critical for lexical identification during reading, both in beginning and skilled readers. Theories of learning to read typically posit a developmental change, from early readers’ reliance on phonology to more skilled readers’ development of direct orthographic-semantic links. Specifically, in becoming a skilled reader, the extent to which an individual processes phonology during lexical identification is thought to decrease. Recent data from eye movement research suggests, however, that the developmental change in phonological processing is somewhat more nuanced than this. Such studies show that phonology influences lexical identification in beginning and skilled readers in both typically and atypically developing populations. These data indicate, therefore, that the developmental change might better be characterised as a transition from overt decoding to abstract, covert recoding. We do not stop processing phonology as we become more skilled at reading; rather, the nature of that processing changes.

Explaining and Understanding Early Literacy

The last decade has brought a growing consensus on the range of skills that serve as the foundation for reading and writing ability (Neuman & Dickinson, 2011). To become a skilled reader, children need a rich language and conceptual knowledge base, a broad and deep vocabulary, and verbal reasoning abilities to understand messages that are conveyed through print. Children also must develop code-related skills, an understanding that spoken words are composed of smaller elements of speech (phonological awareness); the idea that letters represent these sounds (the alphabetic principle), the many systematic correspondences between sounds and spellings, and a repertoire of highly familiar words that can be easily and automatically recognized.But to attain a high level of skill, young children need opportunities to develop these strands, not in isolation, but interactively. Meaning, not sounds or letters, motivates children’s earliest experiences with print. Consequently, it is important to recognize that in practice, children acquire these skills in coordination and interaction with meaningful experiences. Given the tremendous attention that early literacy has received recently and the increasing diversity of the child population in most countries, it is important and timely to take stock of these critical dimensions as well as the strengths and gaps in our ability to measure these skills effectively. In the following sections, I describe the critical dimensions of early literacy and the implications for high quality practices in the early childhood setting.

Explaining and Understanding Early Literacy

The last decade has brought a growing consensus on the range of skills that serve as the foundation for reading and writing ability (Neuman & Dickinson, 2011). To become a skilled reader, children need a rich language and conceptual knowledge base, a broad and deep vocabulary, and verbal reasoning abilities to understand messages that are conveyed through print. Children also must develop code-related skills, an understanding that spoken words are composed of smaller elements of speech (phonological awareness); the idea that letters represent these sounds (the alphabetic principle), the many systematic correspondences between sounds and spellings, and a repertoire of highly familiar words that can be easily and automatically recognized.But to attain a high level of skill, young children need opportunities to develop these strands, not in isolation, but interactively. Meaning, not sounds or letters, motivates children’s earliest experiences with print. Consequently, it is important to recognize that in practice, children acquire these skills in coordination and interaction with meaningful experiences. Given the tremendous attention that early literacy has received recently and the increasing diversity of the child population in most countries, it is important and timely to take stock of these critical dimensions as well as the strengths and gaps in our ability to measure these skills effectively. In the following sections, I describe the critical dimensions of early literacy and the implications for high quality practices in the early childhood setting.

Readers Activity and Culture of Reading

The paper provides a theoretical justification of the term «reading activity» and describes intentional data of this activity, summarizes the characteristics of a skilled reader.

The challenge of unstated meaning

This paper uses a schemata-theoretic conception of reading in an assessment of ESL reader recall of unstated levels of meaning in narrative prose. Schemata theory suggests that the skilled reader selects one of a finite number of text schemata to use in the decoding, retention and recall of a particular text, and it has been demonstrated that better knowledge of the schematic structure makes possible better recall. Here, reader recall of two types of unstated meaning in narrative prose is assessed for a group of advanced learners of ESL, who use Chinese as L1. Evidence is presented of poor recall of unstated meaning, concomitant with a lack of knowledge of the requisite schematic structure. It is therefore suggested that formal instruction on the requisite structure will enhance learner recall of unstated meaning.